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Posts tagged with: Benazir Bhutto
Jun 7, 2015    |      1 comment

Benazir Bhutto Assassination Video remerges – still no progress

Resharing this Dunya TV clip from 2012 – the video from Mobile phone camera first emerged the day after 28th Dec 2007 when the gentleman shooting the video contacted me via orkut my Blog post the following day on 29th Dec 2007 I clearly outlined that BB was assassinated by a bullet

Benazir Bhutto Murder Investigations

A look at the mobile clip which has been long ignored

Posted by DunyaTV on Thursday, December 27, 2012

But I guess no one wanted to who assassinated her… neither her party and neither her family who totally ruled over Pakistan for the next 5 years and made billions if not trillions …. I guess this mystery …. shall be another one shoved under the carpet ..

May 14, 2012    |      1 comment

Urdu translation of Benazir & Nawaz Sharif’s Corruption in Raymond Baker’s book on Dirty Money

Courtesy of the team working with columnist Hassan Nisar has translated the Pakistan relevant pages 76-88 which Expose the Massive Corruption of Benazir Bhutto, Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif [PDF]

For the English version of the relevant pages check out the following links Benazir Bhutto & Nawaz Sharif Please keep in mind this is the research from an independent unbiased person (Raymond Baker) living out side of Pakistan who in his book tracks all forms of international corruption and we are blessed [?] to have two Prime Ministers deeply involved in the corruption trail leading in and out of Pakistan
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Apr 1, 2012    |       13 comments

Bhutto & Zardari’s Corruption highlighted in Raymond Baker’s book on Dirty Money

In continuation of highlighting the stakeholders of Corruption in Pakistan as reported by Capitalism’s Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free-Market System His comments on Nawaz Sharif can be found here, while Benazir Bhutto, Zardari & PPP’s reign on corruption is reproduced below [Credit @Aleem_Ashraf]

Corruption and criminality run from the top down, with the political class constantly looting the national treasury and distorting economic policy for personal gain. Bank loans are granted largely on the basis of status and connections. The rich stash much of their money abroad in those willing western coffers, while exhibiting little inclination to repay their rupee borrowings. Pakistan’s recent history has been dominated by two families—the Bhuttos and the Sharifs—both merely tolerated by the military, the real power in the country. When it comes to economic destruction, there’s not a lot of difference among the three.

Benazir Bhutto on pages 77-82: Born in Karachi in 1953 and educated in private schools, Benazir Bhutto graduated from Radcliffe College at Harvard University in 1973. Going on to Oxford for a master’s degree, she displayed her budding political skills and was elected president of the Student Union in 1977. Meanwhile, her father had become prime minister of Pakistan in

1971, was ousted in a military coup in 1977, and was executed in 1979 on charges of conspiracy to commit murder. In and out of prison and house arrest, Benazir was not allowed to leave the country until 1984 but then returned to lead the democracy movement two years later. Her father’s usurper, General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, was killed in a mysterious plane crash in 1988, which also took the life of the U.S. ambassador Arnold Raphel, and the head of the U.S. military aid mission to Pakistan, General H.M. Wasson. Benazir was elected prime minister that year, served until her ouster in 1990 on charges of corruption and nepotism, was reelected in 1993, and ousted again in 1996, amidst more charges of corruption. During her two terms in office and since, what has come out portrays Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari as world-class thieves.
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May 1, 2011    |       22 comments

US and NATO imperialism in South Asia: The developing Pakistan Quagmire

After some nationalist and anti-imperialist elements succeeded in defeating the elaborate US and British plans to install two of their puppets- Parvez Musharraf and the late Benazir Bhutto-in the highest government offices in Pakistan, another puppet, Asif Ali Zardari, Benazir’s husband-also known as Mr. Ten Percent, because of his corruption and demanding and taking systematic bribes on contracts with national and international companies- during Benazir’s premiership, in which he was one of the members of her cabinet, managed to substitute both of them and has proven that he is a bigger puppet than both of them combined. Both he and his wife were methodically groomed for their roles by various organs and representatives of US imperialism.

During their government, they had stolen an estimated one and a half billion dollars from the poor people of Pakistan and had deposited those in foreign bank accounts. When numerous cases of fraud and corruption were filed against them in the Pakistani and foreign courts, they fled the country and lived abroad for years, in aristocratic and lavish life styles, when overwhelming majority of Pakistani people were suffering ever increasing levels of poverty and deprivation. It was only after an incredibly illegal, unjustifiable, and crooked deal with the Musharraf dictatorship, which was a desperate and reckless move to save itself against the rising tide of opposition-pushed and supervised by the representatives of US and British imperialism-in which all the corruption charges were dropped and the cases withdrawn, that they dared to return to Pakistan.
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Jun 21, 2010    |       69 comments

Happy Birthday Benazir

The city wears a festive look. Thousands of banners costing millions of rupees have suddenly appeared all over the town. Pictures of ZAB, BB, AtoZ and the three kids. Sponsored by ministers of Sindh Government at the tax payers’ expense, the colourful facade does nothing to lessen the pain, sorrow and militancy that the city experiences each day.

It took 20 years and a world bank loan for Sindh to count its 7480 closed schools. Schools where teachers are paid for their absence and the administration takes its cut. Schools which are homes to cows and goats, and where children never arrive. Schools where children learn Kalashnikov, much before they learn football.

One wonders, how Benazir would have felt , had she been alive on her 57th birthday. Would she have approved the corruption, incompetence and wastage of her fake degree holding Parliamentarians? Or would she have preferred millions of little children sitting in their class rooms on June 21, 2010.

Happy Birthday Benazir .

Apr 26, 2010    |       111 comments

Benazir’s Murder: The Pyre Must Burn

The assassin displayed remarkable cool. At least once, he chose to delay his fire and then moved in very close to an advantageous position with the bomber following him. The man who grappled and brought him down deserves a citation.

Benazir Bhutto, the Daughter of the East is dead, buried and treacherously abandoned by her party leadership. Some prime witnesses including the assassin himself, the suicide bomber, Khalid Shanshah, Bait Ullah Mehsud and God knows who else are silenced forever.

Someone needs to explain why that hyperactive Benazir, the Princess of the day, infused with vigour like an elixir had to die. The Bhutto legacy will endure treacherous times. Qouting Hussain Pawar, ‘The pyre will burn’.

At a time when the country is struggling to fight its civil war in the backdrop of a sinking economy and growing parochialism, the Bhutto Legacy provides the cohesion needed to offset threats. It is the duty of every Pakistani to keep this pyre burning till such time the planners of Benazir’s murder are not identified and punished.

In the same stride, the nation must also know who murdered national leaders like the death of Jinnah and his sister, Liaqat Ali, Bhutto, Zia Ul Haq and Murtaza Bhutto.
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Jan 20, 2010    |       74 comments

Mumtaz Bhutto’s Interview with Express News Kamran Shahid

Mumtaz Bhutto leader of SNF talks to Express News host Kamran Shahid on 17th January 2010. I believe this to be a very interesting interview worth sharing on this blog, Mumtaz Bhutto generally an old-cadre PPP supporter shares his political views and is seen to be genuinely begruntled at seeing the PPP and the Bhutto name hijacked by Asif Zardari etc. He talks about BB’s fake will, sheds light on Beanzir Bhutto’s murder, the murder of Murtaza Bhutto and many other issues.

UPDATE: I had to remove the video stream as the file seemed to be infected by a trojan

Dec 30, 2009    |       169 comments

MA Jinnah Road Bomb Blast of 28th Dec – Video of the devastation Next Day

A Bomb Blast ripped through MA Jinnah Road on 28th December 2009 – this video of the kilometer long stretch of road shows that the mobsters ransacked a large section of the street leaving a hundreds of shopkeepers devastated and a loss of millions of rupees.

A group of concerned citizens sympathized with many shopkeepers, trying to share in their grief but there were simply one too many. The kilometer stretch of road was in flames. Targeted attacks on particular markets was noted, indicating that it was not a random affair. The witnesses all say that the rioting starts almost immediately after the bomb blast that one has to wonder if there was a definite plan to cause serious harm. While walking the enter business district one noted that the fire continues to burn in a few of the buildings still 16-20 hours later, indicting that some chemical was used to ignite these shops. A short compilation of the videos and pictures that we took on our visit today can be seen here


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Oct 18, 2009    |       22 comments

The Business of Martyrdom in Pakistani Politics

Two years back in 2007 barely two blocks away from my house a powerful explosion rocked Shahrah-e-Faisal as a suicide bomber tried to attack Benazir Bhutto’s motorcade as it made its way from Karachi airport to a massive rally being held to celebrate her return to Pakistan. We all know that she luckily had survived the attack, we all know what happened after that, we all know how she sadly succumbed to another such attack two months later in December.

Now as I see this PPP government marking its presence on the streets of Karachi today I recall the words I shared in my post back in 2007 immediately after the attack – I wrote “Thank God, Benazir Lives” – two years down I get an eerie feeling to say, I was right, that there is a business of Martyrdom in Pakistani politics, and maybe these ceremonies being held today in Karachi have nothing to do with respecting the departed, but instead I fear its a celebration.
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Apr 12, 2009    |       10 comments

Statement on behalf of Concerned Citizens of Pakistan | Shanaakht Festival

Sign the petition condemning the violence at the against the violence at the Shanaakht Festival

shanaakht festivalThis great city of Karachi was the venue of the 2nd Shanaakht Festival held at the Arts Council, Karachi. Over 1000 exhibits of Art were received and featured at this Festival and it was open to the general public. On the first day [i.e. 8-4-2009] of the 2nd Shanaakht Festival, a small group of individuals entered the Arts Council, Karachi, disrupted the Festival and vandalized the exhibition at the Festival. The disruption and vandalism of the Exhibition was done on the ground that one of the exhibits was objectionable and disrespectful of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. It is important to note that these people never approached the organizers to launch a complaint or for the removal of the exhibit that they found objectionable. It is also been reported in the ‘The News’ on 10-4-2009 that a F.I.R. has also been initiated against the organizer of the Festival and artist of the objectionable exhibit.

Without defending the said exhibit of art and without deliberating on the issue as to whether the exhibit of art was objectionable and disrespectful or not, we respect the point of view of all persons who found the exhibit objectionable and disrespectable and we sympathize with them for their emotional distress. We also respect the right of all persons to peacefully protest and criticize any exhibit or piece of art which they deem objectionable. What we are concerned and disturbed about are the actions of some people, whatsoever the grounds maybe, who disrupted and vandalized the exhibition and endangered the life and security of the citizens present. What we are further perturbed about is the use of the criminal law against persons who have a different point of view.
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Apr 9, 2009    |       11 comments

Open letter to Sindh Minister for Culture | Shanaakht Festival

by Khawer Amir Khan shared via Facebook Note on his profile

Open letter to Ms. Sassui Palijo, Sindh Minister for Culture

shanaakht festivalMadam Minister,

I write this open letter to you with a heavy heart. Workers of your party have betrayed the message of Benazir Bhutto, who very recently gave her life but refused to be silenced. No person with a moral compass would question her courage in standing up to the forces of obscurantism and regression.

When her janisar and jiyalas behaved like stormtroopers and destroyed art at a festival that was meant to be about the identity of Pakistanis, they called into question their own understanding of Ms. Bhutto’s sacrifice.

It has been said by many, both supporters of your party and common citizens, that the organizers and curators of the festival are somehow to blame for provoking the sentiments of the people. It is being said that art is fine, but the festival is no place for politics. This proposition not only ignores the rich heritage of festivals as an articulation of resistance, the festivals born of the French revolution come to mind, but also completely ignores the fact that both the “objectionable art” and the festival concerned Pakistan’s identity. Hundreds died because of Ms. Bhutto’s refusal to be silenced, should be blame her then? You will join me in an empathic NO! Only the forces of regression and hate are to be blamed.
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Apr 9, 2009    |       106 comments

The image that led to the ransacking of the Shanakht Festival

The controversial image of the Shanaakht Festival has been taken down from this post due to repeated insistence of the organizers as they continue to receive threats from various sources, so in light of the seriousness of the issue I must condemn these instigators but take down these images for the sake of public safety. I pray that the entire team of organizers come out of this crisis and rejuvenate Pakistan all over again

Yesterday a group of Peoples Student Federation ransacked the Shanakht Festival at the Art Council over an image of Benazir Bhutto sitting on lap of Zia-ul-Haq.

Looking at the picture I was appalled at the audacity of the artist to have photoshopped such an image practically insulting the political leaders in the picture not to account for the emotions of the people attached to them. In my opinion it is akin to a political blasphemy, granted there could be some artistic license, but one would be a tad bit careful in displaying nudity in Pakistan merely for the sake that it may irk some emotional reactions. I believe this image was in bad taste but at the same time I must also condemn the ransacking and believe this issue could have be sorted amicable and peacefully.

Having digested the events of yesterday – the Shanakht festival is back on schedule — without the image!!

UPDATE: This image has been taken from a Facebook group that was objecting to the ransacking of the Shanakht Festival by PSF – Pressure has been coming from many sources asking us to take this image off “so that the government can allow the festival to continue”, but my position is that I find this image utterly objectionable – I hold the organizers of Shanakht, the artist group which collected these images and definitely the artist who photoshopped it in the first place responsible for a major blunder. The image was on display the entire day yesterday and was bound to be made public sooner or later and it was bound to spark a full blown controversy even later. This is my peaceful way of registering a protest, taking the image offline [as requested by many people] will definitely not be a solution

Jan 16, 2009    |       19 comments

Fatima Bhutto: Garhi Khuda Bux – Pilgrimage to nowhere

In an artcile which was recently published in the New Statesman Fatima Bhutto talks about the first year death anniversary of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and her burial town of Garhi Khuda Bux. She sums up the experience with these powerful words

“Now her posters, in the manner of those at Sufi shrines, hang inside the mausoleum, over the graves even. There is no space for the sacred, there is no space for grief, only space for advertising and political grandstanding of “Look whom I’m related to”-type posters, “Vote for my children, they’re next!” warnings, and so on. One year after Benazir’s assassination, this is what her legacy has come down to. And it is fitting that in her death, like in her life, there is no talk of principles or ideology, only of personality and genealogy.”

Read the entire article here

Dec 28, 2008    |       26 comments

A letter from Heavens

Guest Blog by Naeem Sadiq

27 Dec 2008. Here in Heavens , it is all peace, quiet and tranquility. Today I specially requested for a copy of national newspapers and some clippings from the various talk shows to get an idea of what was going on after I left for my eternal abode. I simply wanted to know if the mission and the democratic ideals that I had struggled and sacrificed my life for, were being kept alive or had been put aside.

My first big disappointment were the national newspapers. They all carried some 16-20 half page coloured advertisements and upto 10 pages of supplements, ostensibly to pay homage to my departed soul. But it was most surprising to see that not a single person had paid homage from his own pocket. They had all used government funds (tax payer’s money) for paying this so called ‘homage’. I am no longer current with the inflation rates, but I guess the government conveniently ended up depriving the poor of some 20 million rupees, splashed over the newspapers of 27 Dec 2008. I would have preferred to see this money spent on building schools, dispensaries or drinking water plants for the rural poor. I was also sad to see that I was made the excuse for further damage to the fragile economy by declaring 27 December as a public holiday. They seem to forget that holidaying nations do not go many places.
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Dec 28, 2008    |       71 comments

27th December: Mourning or Celebration for PPP / Zardari?

Zardari addressing Benazir Death Anniversary Rally

That fateful day last year Pakistan lost a charismatic leader in the form of the assassination of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Its ironic that despite the fact that PPP since then has come to occupy the power house of Islamabad but it has brazenly ‘refused’ investigate the perpetrators and bring the ‘criminals’ to justice. What really irked me was when I watched Asif Ali Zardaris addressing a ceremony in Naudero commemorating the first anniversary of the martyrdom of Ms Bhutto, President Zardari said: “I know who killed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and I will expose them” and asked the ‘friends’ to come forward and help him instead of putting questions as to who killed Ms Bhutto

It is with the same concerning thought that one is bemused to see the PPP opportunists shedding a tear on her death anniversary on National TV, in the absence of any real commitment to launch a serious investigation, I believe these PPP opportunists should instead be celebrating this occasion, as it has handed them all a once in a life time opportunity which they continue to cash in upon the blood of their slain leader

Shakeel Anjum of The News Investigative cell shares an very detailed write up investigating the events following the tragic death. Quite simply without naming the perpetrator, he points the finger at many of our top leaders summarizing quite simply There is enough proof which points towards those who had played a key role in the whole plot that culminated in her assassination. But nobody can dare make any demand to unveil the elements because all these players are holding powerful positions

In the lack of a proper investigation, I might ask you to read this very informative article then answer this poll, maybe public opinion can help bring expose the perpetrators

[poll id=”4″]

The News, 27th Dec 2008; One year on, Benazir’s murder is still a mystery, but not so much By Shakeel Anjum

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